Southern Highlights Island Hopping Tour
ITINERARY
This 6-day island hopping tour is specially designed for travelers who want to see a lot of wildlife in little time and without having to sacrifice all their savings. On this tour, you join a group and specific travel dates exist throughout the year. The travel program is quite active, be prepared for hiking, swimming and many boat rides.
Day 1 – Welcome to Galapagos (San Cristobal)
Upon arrival to San Cristobal Island – the oldest and eastern-most island of the archipelago, our representative will pick up and take you to the hotel to check into your room. After lunch with your guide at a local restaurant, you head to La Lobería a beautiful beach that owes its name to the sea lions (span.: lobos marinos) that live there.
During your first snorkeling session of the tour, you might see turtles, rays and colorful fish. After snorkeling, you hike to a cliff where you can observe swallow-tailed gills, frigate birds and maybe even some blue-footed boobies. During the hike you will encounter many marine iguanas.
In the afternoon, you return to the hotel and later have dinner.
Day 2 – Española Island
Today you travel by boat to Española Island, which is the southern highlight of the Enchanted Islands because of the abundance of animals that you can find there. The boat ride takes one and a half hours.
You disembark at Punta Suarez and start your exploration hike to spot the unique wildlife of the islands. Prepare you photo cameras to caption blue-footed boobies, Nazca boobies and the colorful marine iguanas of Española. If you visit Galapagos between April and December, you will also meet the big waved albatross colony that comes to Española Island for courtship, mating and breeding.
Lunch is served back on board the boat and in the afternoon, you can practice snorkeling to look out for colorful fish, turtles, whitetip reef sharks and rays.
You will be back on San Cristobal in the late afternoon and have some time to rest or walk around the town before having dinner with the group and your guide.
Day 3 – San Cristobal – Floreana – Isabela
On day three of your adventure, you cross the archipelago from the east to the west – from the oldest island to one of the youngest. On the way, you stop at Floreana Island.
After an early breakfast, you head to the pier to take our private speedboat to Floreana Island. The ride takes approximately two and a half hours and upon arrival, you visit the “Asilo de Paz” which means Peace Asylum. This historic site is located in the highlands of Floreana where the first residents of the Galapagos Islands settled. Your guide will give you an insight of the mysteries that surround this place and the people who used to live here. After a short hike where you can observe giant tortoises, you return to the village Puerto Velasco Ibarra to enjoy your lunch.
In the afternoon, you visit a black-sand beach close to the pier and do some snorkeling. Afterwards, you continue with the speedboat to Puerto Villamil. This ride takes about one and a half hour. Puerto Villamil is located at the southern end of Isabela Island and features a long white-sand beach and a bay with clear water near the arrival pier. As one of the youngest islands, Isabela’s volcanoes show still moderate activity.
If time allows it, you drive to a fresh water lagoon to try to spot flamingos upon arrival. Do not worry - if you are not able to do the visit this afternoon, we will reschedule it for another day of your adventure.
Afterwards, you transfer to the hotel to check into your room and get ready for dinner.
Day 4 – Isabela Island
Upon booking, you have to choose between one of the two activities for this day. The standard program includes a trekking tour at Sierra Negra and Chico Volcanoes. As alternative, we offer a day excursion with snorkeling to Cabo Rosa (a.k.a. Los Tuneles) for an extra cost.
Standard Program – Volcano Trek
You depart early in the morning to the highlands where you start the 6-hour trek the Sierra Negra and Chico Volcanoes. The trek is 16 kilometers (10 miles) long and takes you first to Sierra Negra Volcano. The volcano’s caldera has a diameter of 10 kilometers and is one of the largest ones in the world. You continue to Chico Volcano and will be amazed by the moonlike landscape that gives you an idea of what the Galapagos archipelago looked like many years ago after its creation.
After the hike, you drive to a farm in the area and have lunch. You will be back at your hotel at about 3:30 PM to rest.
Alternative Program – Cabo Rosa (additional cost)
If you cannot get enough of the sea and prefer snorkeling over hiking, this is the choice for you. You join a navigable tour with another group to Cabo Rosa. This site is also known as Los Tuneles because of the tunnel-like lava formations that were formed through continuous volcanic eruptions and the lava flows petrifying on the outside but in the inside lava continued circulating. These lava tunnels lie in the sea and are surrounded by turquoise water and marine vegetation, which contributes to the spectacular scenery of the site. Besides enjoying the breathtaking scenery, you also have the chance to observe pelicans, blue-footed boobies, sea lions and maybe even penguins. The highlight of this 5-hour tour is the snorkel experience at which you might spot turtles, rays, reef sharks and sea horses.
After returning from the tour, the rest of the day is at your leisure. We recommend enjoying the beach in Isabela or practice snorkeling at Concha Perla.
Day 5 – Santa Cruz
Before heading to the next islands, you visit the Tintoreras Islet in the morning. During a short hike and snorkeling session, you can see sea lions, marine iguanas, blue-footed boobies and whitetip reef sharks. The reef sharks are called tintoreras in Spanish and give this place its name. Sometimes, you can even spot penguins at this site.
Then you get on the group’s private speedboat for a two-hour ride to Santa Cruz Island. After checking in at the hotel and getting ready for the afternoon activities, you have lunch and then take a boat to Tortuga Bay. This boat trip takes only 20 minutes. The beach at Tortuga Bay is one of the most beautiful ones in Ecuador. It is surrounded by mangroves and has crystal-clear and calm water. You enjoy a last swim in the Galapagos waters and can observe marine iguanas and shorebirds like herons and sandpipers. To get back to Puerto Ayora town, you will walk along the beach and then continue on a path through a cactus forest. The walk back to town takes approximately 50 minutes.
Day 6 – Bye-bye Galapagos
In the morning, you leave for the airport to take your flight back to the mainland. On the way you stop in the highlands of Santa Cruz Island to explore the lava tunnels. You will be accompanied to the check-in counters at the airport on Baltra Island.
On your last day, only breakfast is included.
RATES
| 2020 Rates per Person | ||
| Hotel Category | Double/Triple Accommodation | Single Accommodation |
| Economy Class | US $1,690 | US $1,950 |
| Tourist Superior Class | US $1,930 | US $2,350 |
Ask us about the specific departure dates of this tour.
Rates Include:
- Accommodation in hotels of the selected category
- All meals during the tour (breakfast, lunch and dinner)
- All land and maritime transportation during the program
- English-speaking naturalist guide certified by the Galapagos National Park for all activities
- Excursions, visits and activities according to the itinerary
- Snorkeling equipment (mask, tube, fins, short wetsuit)
- Airport transfers on the first (San Cristobal) and last day (Baltra)
- Day tour to Española Island
- Inter-island speedboat (San Cristobal – Floreana – Isabela – Santa Cruz)
- Taxes
Rates Do Not Include:
- Airfare (Quito – Galapagos – Quito approx. $500)
- Galapagos National Park fees (subject to change)
- Entrance fee $100
- Migratory control card INGALA $20
- Isabela port fee $20
- Additional cost for optional activities (Isabela Island: Cabo Rosa Tour)
- Any additional transportation (e.g. transportation between hotels and restaurants)
- Soft drinks and alcoholic beverages
- Tips
- Travel and medical insurance (mandatory to enter Ecuador)
- High season supplement for departures in late December $100 per person
- Any services not previously specified
IMPORTANT NOTES
Itinerary Changes
The tour itinerary is subject to change without prior notice depending on weather conditions, seasonal changes, adjustments in the Galapagos National Park policies, and other unforeseen circumstances that may occur.
Flight to Galapagos
The tour rate does not include airfares but we are happy to help you with any flight arrangement. The Galapagos Islands can only be reached by flight and there are three airlines (Latam, Tame and Avianca) that fly to Galapagos. Flights to Galapagos are available from Quito and Guayaquil.
If you choose to book your own Galapagos flights, please reconfirm with us if the arrival airport, the departure airport and the flight times fit the tour program.
Accommodation
The hotels used during the program are simple but nice and clean. Most hotels are family owned. Every room features a private bathroom with hot water. Wi-Fi is available but the quality of the connection is not very good as you will be on islands far off the mainland.
In the moment that you tell us, what accommodation class you are interested in, we will confirm the hotels that are available for your travel dates. You may choose between the following categories: economy and tourist superior class.
Early wake ups are scheduled during the tour in order to seize the little time that you have on the islands and to be able to complete all activities described above. If you want to stay some extra nights on your own in Galapagos, please let us know. It would be a pleasure to make all necessary arrangements for you.
Meals
All meals are served as a daily menu and not a la carte. A typical meal includes a soup, a main dish with vegetables, rice and chicken, fish or beef, a freshly made juice and a dessert.
In some special occasions when you are on excursion during lunchtime, lunch is served as box lunch.
Transportation to the restaurants is not included but all restaurants are located in walking distance.
Many ingredients are brought to Galapagos from the mainland and therefore, food variety is sometimes limited. If you need any special catering (vegetarian, vegan, gluten free, etc.) please let us know in advance.
You can fill up your water bottles in all hotels. Tap water is not potable.
Guides
A English-speaking guide certified by the Galapagos National Park will accompany you on all excursions. The guide will explain the wildlife of the islands and coordinate the activities of each day.
The day trips to Española Island and Cabo Rosa (Isabela Island) are operated by a third party and are guided by a different guide than the rest of the tour.
Inter-Island Transportation
The navigations between islands are traveled with small speedboats and depending on the swell, the rides can last up to three hours and get quite bumpy. The trips from San Cristobal to Floreana, Floreana to Isabela and Isabela to Santa Cruz are made with a private speedboat just for our group. The day trips to Española Island and Cabo Rosa (Isabela Island) are operated by a third party. During these tours, a different guide and other travelers accompany you.
For people prone to seasickness, we recommend you take a seasickness pill before each speedboat ride and bring plastic bags just in case.
Make sure that all valuable objects and electronics are safely stored in plastic bags.
Personal Health and Fitness
As this is an active travel program, it is important that you are prepared for hiking and swimming. The National Park rules are very strict and a group always has to stay together and with its guide, so it is important that the whole group is in good shape – especially for the volcano hike on the 4th day.
